PubMed · 2026-06-11
E-waste dumps leach heavy metals and toxic chemicals into soil, stunting plant growth and contaminating food chains. This review maps how plants and microbes can work together to clean that pollution biologically, and how genetic engineering and nanotechnology are pushing those methods further.
E-waste is generated at roughly 2 million metric tons per year globally, with disposal largely unregulated, leading to widespread soil contamination by heavy metals and organic pollutants.
Phytoremediation (plant-based cleanup) and microbial bioremediation are identified as environmentally sustainable alternatives to physical and chemical treatment methods for e-waste-contaminated soils.
Modern biotechnological tools including nanotechnology, genetic engineering, and gene editing are advancing biological remediation efficiency beyond what naturally occurring plant-microbe systems can achieve alone.